There is a need in the art of pipe repair for a method and apparatus for repairing main pipes, lateral pipes, and pipe junctions that is easily changeable at a job site to account for varying diameters of pipes. This is due to the fact that it can be both expensive and time consuming to provide new pieces of equipment to repair different pipes within the same system.
There also exists a need in the art for a method and apparatus for repairing main and lateral pipes that includes a fully reusable bladder. Known methods employ pushing a liner into a bladder using a rod, which requires an end of the bladder to be open, in order to string the liner along the bladder. The open end of the bladder is then closed for the inversion process. The bladder may be discarded after the inversion and curing process. If an attempt to reuse the bladder was to be made, such a reuse can be impractical and inconvenient. Because the end of the bladder must be open during placement of the liner, the bladder must be cut after a first use to place a second liner within the bladder. This must be done in order to gain access to the interior of the bladder. The cutting makes the bladder shorter. After placing a second liner within the bladder, the bladder must be reclosed, using even more bladder material to make the seal. For many applications, the loss of such a bladder length would make reuse of the bladder impractical, as the bladder is unfit for pipe repair lengths equal to or greater than the first pipe repair. Furthermore, the process of cutting the bladder then reclosing it is a time intensive process. Therefore, there is a need in the art for an improved or alternative method and apparatus for repairing pipes that incorporates the use of a fully reusable bladder that is configured for rapid reuse.